Fast, effective response to your customers needs is crucial in todays highly competitive and information based economy. Millions of small and medium sized businesses still rely on very basic customer information solutions for this mission critical function.
This is the fourth and final installment in a series of 4 articles each one focusing on a key reason that basic contact management systems like ACT! and Outlook are keeping your business from reaching the heights of success youre striving for. To see the complete compilation of 4 reasons ACT! and Outlook are holding your business back and what to do about, visit http://www.salesnexus.com/resources.php
Reason #4 that ACT! or Outlook or whatever technology youve tried are not working for you:
Theres virtually no support. So now were past whether the system is up and running properly. Were talking about whether each individual can figure out how to do what they need to do, day in and day out? Whos going to answer those questions every day? Is there a guru on your staff that can respond immediately to questions from your sales team about how to do this and that in your contact management system? If not, calling ACT! or Microsoft to find out is not something you want your sales team sitting through. So things stall. Business has to go on and the users go back to doing it the old fashioned way.
You need someone thats in tune with your business, that knows how you work and responds on your time, not their own.
Tip #7 youre going to need someone to be your go to guy. This could be your in house administrative or IT person. You need to make sure they make a priority of responding to problems and questions from the rest of your staff. Whether its a staff member, your contract IT person or a vendor, take the time to bring them up to speed on what workflows are crucial for your people all day every day.
Remember, this does not need to be expensive or extremely time consuming. The toughest thing to do is to decide exactly what your people should do to capture, document and share vital information day in and day out.
If figuring that out is where youre stuck, I recommend trying to do it with the resources you have at hand. There will be some trial and error. Best to work through that without spending a bunch of money.
Once you understand the steps involved in each employees key workflows, you may find that you can make your current technology work. If not, youll know exactly what capabilities you need to shop for.
That transition doesnt have to be painful. Dont look for the technology to create the process for you. You need to decide what processes will make you most competitive. Then find technology that automates them.
Getting your staff members on board and motivated to share information is the key. Be sure to check out my blog, Sell, Sell, Sell! - http://sellsellsell.salesnexus.com/ for plenty of tips and advice on getting the people part of contact management right.
